"The forge should be up and a runnin' by tomorrow night, the last few components I need should be here by tomorrow. While I was out searchin' for the best parts I could get, I happened by Temel, about 7 or 8 miles from the Everlund pass. A wee burg, not more than 30 souls, but it does have a chapel to Helm. I happened to speak with the chapels custodian, and he and his friend the mayor expressed a concern about monsters and the like in these here mountians. They explained that the town is a regular stopping point for patrols from Silverymoon and Everlund, and tend to get them about every 3 days.

While I didn't get the chance to personally see them, I was told that there are two temples in Wageton, about 12 miles southwest of our new home. A temple to Lathander, and one to Selune. It might be worth some checkin' later in the future.

I also learned of a temple to Waukeen, in Cholnudon, about 20 miles south of Temel. I was also told Cholnudon is about the same size as Temel, about 30 souls or so.

At the very least I can start gathering some information from these temples at a later date.

Further more, if ye be needin' arms and armor, I'll be happy to start as soon as materials or coin be made available. If someone wants to get me a list of things needed for the armory, for example.."

Lathander, Lathander... now why does that sound familiar to me? At any rate, I have done some scouting about and, while I am sure this will overlap with others' findings, have had some success. Here be the flora and fauna report! I ran across herds of branta and deer that could be a decent source of both food and hides. I also found several plants, etc that would be useful for healing salves, poisons and one that potentially could be used as a source of income. In addition, there is duskwood for construction. All of these are good things.

"I should also be finished setting up my crafting space in the next couple days. If you have any needs, please let me know. Otherwise, my focus will be to create items for our armory and an excess to be sold in the surrounding communites.

I can also confirm some of Althalus's findings. Specifically, there is a goblin encampment in a cave about five miles northeast of the stronghold, on the other side of the mountain wall. I witnessed a worg mounted patrol of 7 goblins returning to this cave. Their true numbers could be more. Further investigation is needed to determine if they are a true threat.

In addition, I spotted a pack of seven dire wolves hunting some cattle directly west of the stronghold in an area where the foothills of the Nether Mountains meet the plains. We could offer to help the surrounding communites preserve their livestock. If we choose to do so, we would need to take action soon."

"Poisons are a delicate mixture of various toxins, and getting the poison to persist on a blade and remain effective is quite a task. It will cost me 1/6th the price (15 gp per dose) to produce one dose of tiny spider poison. So let me know if any of you need this or find a fence who can move it most effectively."

"K’Gorsz also informs me that he is just as good at making poisons from bigger spiders (small, medium, etc) and he can go and extract venom from them. The drawbacks are it might take him a week just to find bigger spiders, and it will cost more to produce. I think I will have him start on that."

"And these are the people in our neighborhood..."

About seven or eight miles south on the Everlund Pass you find the well defended thorp of Temel. Temel has a population of 34 people and it is kind of a rest stop on the road between Silverymoon and Everlund. Kevian Droverson is the mayor and he seems to be a pretty good guy. His first concern is, as always, safety in the dangerous Nether Mountains. The gold piece limit here is 38, meaning you will find nothing in Temel worth more than 38 gold pieces. Their spending limit is 57 gold pieces, meaning you couldn’t sell them more than 57 gold pieces worth of stuff. Through a brief walkthrough the thorp you can tell it has at least one low-level wizard, a couple of bards, and maybe a couple of experts as well.

Between the Nether Mountains and the Rauvin River, about 12 miles southwest of the stronghold, is the Hamlet of Wageton. It is a way station for travel up and down the Rauvin between Silverymoon and Everlund. Wageton has a population of 182, and is run by a town council. This hamlet was built on the trade up and down the river. It has a gold piece limit of 56, and a spending limit of 504. There seems to be a good variety of NPCs as well as experts.

Last, the thorp of Cholnudon is about 18-20 miles south on the Everlund Pass from Temel. It has a population of 68 and is very much like Temel, a rest stop along the Everlund Pass between Everlund and Silverymoon. You couldn’t get a very good feel for who was in charge here for some reason. You did get a sense there is a number of rogues here. It has a gold piece limit of 29, and a spending limit of 98.

Last, while you were out traveling, you did see a band of merchants moving south between Temel and Cholnudon. They included five commoners, eight warriors, and two shield dwarf leaders.